Donald Trump is trying out a new shtick, where he "reaches out" to African-American voters and "softens" his extremist immigration stance to try to convince suburban white people he's not that racist. But the truth behind the mirage kind of spilled out on Hannity last night, when Trump asked an audience of (mostly) white people whether he should go ahead with his plan of mass deportation for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.

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In Trumpian fashion, he threw stuff out there and saw how loud the applause was:

To the audience's credit, they seem relatively open to finding a reasonable solution for hardworking, longtime residents who are essentially upstanding citizens without proper documentation. But the whole thing is kind of unnerving. Why is a major-party presidential candidate crowdsourcing his position on not just a major issue, but one that has been the defining issue of his campaign?

Also, why are undocumented immigrants being treated like the loser in a gladiator match?

(Is Trump the Emperor Commodus here? We allude, you decide.)

Based on this, Trump's immigration position is now what people in the room with him cheer for, which isn't exactly reassuring to, well, anyone. That includes his supporters and advisors. TPMreports that #1 Trump Fan Ann Coulter was forced to criticize him on the Tweet Machine the same day her book came out, the one that praises him as The Second Coming. Meanwhile, campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson twisted herself into a pretzel on CNN this morning trying to characterize Trump's position:

Katrinia Pierson on CNN just said Trump hasn't "changed his position on immigration, he's just changed the words he's saying."

In the end, only the suburban white people Trump is trying to reach here can decide if they believe this proves he's Not That Racist. Maybe some will try to rationalize his previous position—which is essentially unprecedented in its extremity—was just primary season rhetoric.